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The Wolf
Duc Volpe, known also as The Wolf is the main antagonist in Stronghold and Stronghold 3, appearing also as an AI enemy in the multiplayer section of Stronghold Crusader and Stronghold Crusader Extreme. Background The Wolf's past is shrouded with mystery, and what is known of his history is mainly patched together from stories and unreliable rumors alone. This aside, it is believed that both of his parents died from natural causes in close succession shortly after his eighteenth birthday. After receiving his dukedom, the Wolf took it upon himself to go travelling, stating he needed some time to think things through, leaving his loyal serfs to manage the lands for him. Nobody knows for certain where he went, but he returned a year later with a new companion calling himself The Pig. After a visit to the king of the homeland himself, he began to instigate his invasion plans of Britain with the Pig in tow as his right hand man. There have also been wild accusations flying around the king's court that the Wolf has somehow become involved with the "Order of Black Knights". However there is only unsubstantiated and anecdotal evidence to support these claims. Appearance The Wolf is built from pure muscle, undoubtedly making him the strongest of the foes you will meet. His awesome presence comes mainly from his well-toned gargantuan figure, which is capped with a sturdy pair of broad shoulders. His square jaw is coated with a layer of rough stubble and, coupled with his well defined cheekbones, gives him a handsome Germanic look. His pair of cold steely eyes rounded off by thick eyebrows almost meeting in the middle, allow him to turn his intense stare on or off at will. He usually wears a loose fitting red shirt with the top two buttons undone which exposes his ample chest hair that rhythmically heaves up and down as he breathes. Personality The Wolf is the cold and calculating mastermind behind the entire saga. Secretive in nature, he gives little away in the form of body language, as he consciously makes sure his arms are folded and eye contact is never severed during negotiations. His exterior is almost always calm showing a similar amount of emotion as a newly carved stone, and even in the face of adversity he manages to keep his cool. Underneath, the cogs never stop whirring as he thinks up the most cunning way to outsmart the opposition. If someone foolishly antagonizes him, he will tense his jaw and slowly circle his neck to release a succession of blood-curdling cracking sounds before retorting. On the exceptionally rare occasions when he does become enraged, he will curl up one side of his top lip revealing an oversized canine then let out a low growl. The Wolf is the most efficient as well as the cruelest of leaders rumored to kill even his most loyal of his staff that step out of line, causing people under his rule to respect him through sheer terror. Stronghold / Stronghold Crusader In the original Stronghold, the Wolf acts as the leader of the four tyrants who have divided the land. The Rat, The Snake, and The Pig are all afraid of him to some extent. The Wolf, as he proudly admits, is also the one who killed the player's father. The Wolf is one of the strongest AI opponents in both Stronghold and Stronghold Crusader. His typical attack force consists of swordsmen, crossbowmen, archers, and pikemen. In the original Stronghold it was not uncommon for The Wolf to bring knights and macemen into the fray as well. When attacking, The Wolf favors using trebuchets and catapults to lay siege to an opponent's castle. In Stronghold Crusader The Wolf will also hire Arabian bowmen and horse archers to raid his opponent's farms and industries. They are typically not present in his main siege-force, however he will not hesitate to use them to aid in his own castle defense when he is in a bind. The Wolf likes to build massive castles with thick walls and large towers. All of his castles are surrounded by killing pits and plenty of pitch. Some of The Wolf's more complex castle designs can hold out against even the largest of siege forces if he is permitted enough time to dig his moat and establish his economy. Out of all the AI players encountered in Stronghold Crusader, The Wolf's castles are easily the most impressive to behold. In Stronghold Crusader, if allied with the Wolf, he will not actually speak to the player. One of his servants carries messages for him. For example: My master has need of the following goods. Please send them immediately. This is the result of Firefly Studios' method of copying old taunts from the original Stronghold to Crusader, as only taunts for victory, defeat and battle announcements exist. Tactical Analysis Duc Volpe is very fixated on his walls. He will spend most of his starting gold on stone to create them. This will ultimately end up as a massive fortress, with walls up to ten map squares thick. Perimeter turrets and square towers will dot the walls, each topped with archers and Arabian bowmen. Mangonels will invariably crown the square towers, he will also position trebuchets in front of his castle to pound away at any sieging enemy. Defeating him will require a good economy and food supply that will allow the player to be away from his keep for long periods of time. Horse archers can harass the Wolf's farms and quarries initially, which will irritate him. For extended sieges, however, more dramatic steps will be needed. Note that the Wolf uses a maximum, negative fear factor effect, which means his troops will suffer a -25% combat penalty. If the player's troops are under +5% or +10%, this will seriously increase their combat effectiveness over their enemies. For this reason troops of Saladin and the Lionheartwith up to as much as +25% combat bonus enjoy enormous advantages over the forces of Duc Volpe. Therefore these two lords as allies of the player will prove to be very useful in keeping the Wolf at bay. Defense is actually simpler than his fierceness would suggest. A moat and round towers are essential, with crenellated walls that are at least 3 map squares thick. Round towers should be topped by ballistae and mangonels to take out Wolf’s siege engines and troops respectively. Two apothecaries are also needed, as he will launch diseased cows at the player with his trebuchets during large sieges. A large combined force of archers and crossbowmen are a must. With braziers the archers can take out horse archers, archers and to some extent weaken pikemen. Without crossbowmen his swordsmen and pikemen will wreak havoc and eventually breach defenses. Almost completely enclose the outer boundaries of the keep with a low wall. Leave one gap away as far as possible from the gatehouse. His soldiers will march all the way to this gap and then back to the gatehouse, leaving them very vulnerable to arrows and traps. Killing pits are very effective in quickly reducing large waves of pikemen and swordsmen, but they are not compulsory to achieve victory. The attack force should consist of 70-120 crossbowmen, 5-10 portable shields, a few dozen pikemen, and 4-10 fire ballistae. The shields will stand in front of the crossbowmen, and the pikemen should be on a defensive stance directly behind the shields. The fire ballistae can mingle with the crossbowmen. Use fire to destroy any farms, quarries, mines, etc. The Wolf will dislike this and try to stave off the attack. The crossbowmen should be able to hold them off with ease. Alternately instead of ballistae, a smaller number of trebuchets behind a screen of portable shields can reduce the Wolf's walls and towers to rubble after a period of bombardment. His castle should be approached with utmost caution considering it is surrounded by killing pits and pitch pits. Ordering ballistae to fire at the ground around his castle walls will result in a large fire, although this will remove the pitch pits the killing pits will remain and will need to be disabled by ‘sacrificing’ waves of spearmen or macemen. As his economy crumbles, about 100 assassins and 1-3 battering rams can attack. Have the crossbowmen move almost directly under his walls. As they combat the enemy archers, the battering rams have more time to destroy his gatehouse(s). When they are gone, the assassins can move in and kill him. Otherwise, try using about 70 knights guarding 7 ballistae. Let the ballistae attack the Wolf directly and let the knights ward off the enemies; If you don't want the balistae to be scratched, just set them at the maximum range where the ballistae can fire their bolts. Still retain the knights surrounding the ballistae--just in case another attack happens. Stronghold 3 The Wolf returned in Stronghold 3 to reprise his role of the main game antagonist. He somehow managed to survive the sword impalement into his chest and the fall from the tower. With the help of his eastern allies, he has recovered fully and now appears 10 years older. He no longer seems to wear his trademark helmet. Two of his allies are the sons of the Pig and the Rat, while the last is the Jackal, Eastern in origin. Category:Characters